When you look for table tennis bats, it’s amazing how big the price differences are between the models. Which price category is the right one for you depends on the level you want to play at. In this article, you’ll find out which price shelf you should reach for if you’re looking to buy a new paddle.
How much does a ping pong paddle cost? High-quality bats cost between $80 and $200. In this price category, you usually buy a blade and two rubbers. A good bat for ambitious beginners costs about $40-65. Bats for simple recreational use are available for as little as $10. The most expensive table tennis bat currently available costs about $758.
Most likely it will be neither a $10 nor a $758 bat for you. Rather, bats between $30 and $100 come into question. In this post, I’ll try to help to find the right price segment for you.
What does a Good Table Tennis Bat Cost?
Once again, it depends on the purpose for which you need the paddle. For official competitions, serious amateur matches, or rather for casual play with the family. Depending on that decides what makes a good racket.
Therefore, you will find below the right price segment for each purpose.
How Much Does a Good Paddle Cost for a Beginner?
Whether you are starting out in a club or are an ambitious amateur player, you should probably not buy a ready-made racket, but a blade and two rubbers of your choice.
In the beginning, it makes sense to choose models that have balanced attributes for spin, speed, and control. This way you start with an allround paddle that allows you to practice all playing styles.
Experts even advise against playing too early with a “professional racket”. This is because there is a risk that they are too fast or too “spinny” for the beginning and you will not be able to cope with them at all.
Beginners do therefore not even have to look for bats that cost more than $100. Perfectly suitable allround rackets cost between $60 and $85. If you don’t want to spend that much money at the beginning, you can find an acceptable racket for $40.
The price differences are clearly noticeable in the quality, though. Therefore, you should think twice if spending 20€ more for more fun and control isn’t worth it.
However, if you do decide to go for the $40 price range, it’s better to buy a Ready to Play bat that already comes with two rubbers glued on. A good model from this category is the Butterfly Timo Boll Carbon Fiber.
This is modeled after Timo Boll’s original racket. Later in the post, you’ll find out which material he actually plays with.
How Much does a Good Blade Cost?
For a $60 paddle, you would spend about $35 for the blade. A classic in this price range is the Stiga Allround Classic. This is one of the most widely used blades and has the perfect characteristics for an ambitious beginner.
I would also recommend this blade for a bat costing $80 and play with slightly higher quality rubbers.
How Much does a Good Rubber Cost?
For a $60 paddle, the allround rubber Friendship Super 729 FX (approx. $14) would be suitable. If you want to spend a little more, the Andro GTT 55 would be a good choice.
How Much does a Competition Paddle Cost?
You don’t necessarily have to spend more than $80 to have a top competition bat. Especially in the allround area, you get really good quality for that money. But usually, you develop a certain playing style for which you need a more specialized racket.
If you do a little browsing for blades and rubbers, you’ll notice that an average competition racket tends to cost around $120€-150. Depending on what preferences you have.
The paddle of german world-class player Timo Ball costs with $220 a little bit more. He uses the blade named after him Butterfly Timo Boll and the Butterfly Tenergy rubber.
How much do Recreational Ping Pong Paddles Cost?
If you just want to play some table tennis every now and then, you should rather go for ready-to-play bats. In the recreational segment, these are priced around $20 and $35. A good and inexpensive bat in this range would be the Butterfly Wakaba 3000.
If you buy a new table tennis table for your home, you will need more than one bat. Maybe you want to have the possibility to play doubles or even Around the World when there are more people around.
For this purpose, you usually just need cheap table tennis bats that do not have to meet high requirements. Here, for instance, you can go straight for a hobby bundle with 4 bats. This one includes 4 bats and 6 3-star balls for only $25.
How Much does the Most Expensive Table Tennis Bat cost?
When talking about the price of something, it’s always interesting to know what the highest possible price is. Curiously, this has changed drastically in recent years
This is because the Nittaku Resoud is no longer sold. Because this blade did cost a whopping $2712 and then you still had to buy two rubbers.
If you want the most expensive blade, you do not have to spend more than a thousand bucks (unless you can find a used Resoud blade on eBay).
The most expensive bat that you can put together costs about $758 on Megaspin.
It consists of the Butterfly Zhang Jike Super ZLC – Chinese Penhold for and the rubber Butterfly Dignics 80 for 94$.
The most expensive racquet to play with directly without having to glue the rubbers on is the Killerspin Stilo7 SVR. This one is not only supposedly the fastest bat out there, but it’s also a real “bargain” in comparison at $350.
How Much does the Cheapest Table Tennis Bat Cost?
From one extreme to the other. How cheap can table tennis bats get? What is the cheapest bat you can buy? The question is, of course, whether these models can still be called table tennis bats but on Megaspin, you can actually find a bat for $3.18!
What you should Keep in Mind about a Bat’s Cost
The blades of a bat last a very long time. If you take good care of it, you can play for more than 10 years with the same one. It is different from the rubbers. Over time, the rubber wears down and loses speed, spin, and control.
Therefore, most competitive players change their rubber at least twice a year. If you are an amateur player and have bought a higher quality bat, experience has shown that you do not have to change it as often.
If the rubber is not yet too worn down and it is only about the grip, there are even tricks on how to make it sticky again. ‘How’ You ask? Find out more in this post.
At some point, though, all the tricks won’t help and you’ll need new rubber. So when you’re talking about the cost of rackets, don’t forget that there are “ongoing costs” involved.
The Right Price Range for You
There are so many different paddles that you can find the right one for every price range and you won’t be disappointed. I hope this post helped you to get an idea of how much you should spend on your new table tennis bat.
If you are ambitious, there is no harm in spending $20 more. You will feel the difference. And then you’ll realize what the right bat really does.
You will enjoy table tennis even more!
